How Green was Lollapalooza? A Scorecard

The organizers of this year's Lollapalooza music festival touted the green initiatives enacted at the show. They boasted eco-friendliness in nearly every aspect of the event, including food service, powering the lights and equipment, merchandise, promotional materials, and more. After receiving the press release, I took a first-hand look around the festival to see if it lived up to the claims. Here's my assessment, using the PC Mag 1-to-5 rating system (5 is best).

Energy Usage: 4 stars
According to organizers, this year's Lollapalooza was a carbon-neutral event, thanks to carbon off-sets from Green Mountain Energy. Gillan Tavdune at Green Mountain Energy confirmed that Lollapalooza had in fact arranged a carbon offset, but the company did not specify a dollar amount. Considering that a cross-country flight costs about $82 in carbon offset, according to Carbonfund.org, I'm sure that Lolla organizers wrote one big, fat check.

I did see some energy waste, however, including portable generators running round the clock to do nothing more than keep big balloons inflated. It should be noted that the press release claimed that all generators and light towers were fueled with biodiesel, but I could not discern the typical biodiesel smell of french fries or popcorn amid the multitude of odors, both human and food-based.

Facilities and Water: 2.5 stars
The portable toilets were plentiful, and were reported to be stocked with recycled toilet paper. I didn't have a chance to test this theory, since every one I used was out of TP. They used hand sanitizer instead of paper towels, which was a good move (even if the sanitizer left my hands gummy and sticky). I think they should have had a few compost toilets available for people to use and learn about the process. If done right, there is no smell and minimal water usage.

Unfortunately, I saw plenty of water being wasted. I give Lolla kudos for setting up refilling stations for water bottles (thereby cutting down on plastic) but many fountains were left running. Also, there were large misting fans set up to cool off hot concert goers, but these were also left on--even in the evening, when the temperature dropped to a very comfortable level, and during a rainstorm on Saturday.

Food and Drink: 3.5 stars
Also claimed on the Lolla "green sheet" was that all food items were served in compostable or biodegradable containers and that the napkins were unbleached, 80-percent post-consumer. Also, the on-site wine vendor, Blackstone, supposedly used disposable cups made from corn. The form also stated that all leftovers were brought to food pantries--and no Styrofoam was used. I did not see any Styrofoam, and there's no way of testing on-site whether a paper french-fry tub is biodegradable. But I find it a little hard to believe that the festival could ensure this, considering that food was sold by over a dozen local vendors. Enforcement would be nearly impossible, not to mention that biodegradable plates and cutlery cost much more that the regular stuff. I think they could have offered a food compost station in a few areas for vegetable matter such as corn cobs, fries, and so on.

After seeing Butler Field (part of Grant Park) completely covered in litter and bottles (and noticing the seagulls beginning to circle) on Saturday, I thought the festival should have let people bring in their own food to reduce trash. I sympathized, however, with the notion that not allowing food means more revenue for local food vendors. But giving people the benefit of the doubt, I thought many would bring food in reusable containers. Then again, people might have brought in Styrofoam containers and left buckets of chicken bones everywhere. At music festivals, people seem much more comfortable with just dropping things on the ground when they're finished. One cool thing I witnessed at Lolla was volunteers and regular folks collecting plastic beer cups for recycling. I found out later that everyone who collected 6 feet of stacked cups got a free T-shirt--a great idea.

Transportation: 5 stars
Lollapalooza did the earth a favor by choosing Chicago as the host city, instead of continuing as a traveling festival. Not only did it save the carbon emitted by driving the show around the country, but Chicago's one of the few cities in America with an easy, affordable, and viable public transportation system. The El is a cinch to figure out, and many fans used it to get to and from the show. They also set up numerous bike racks and a bike valet in the Millennium Park Garage.

Overall, Lollapalooza gets high marks for putting on a somewhat eco-friendly festival, especially since such events--as fun as they are--end up using a ton of energy and mountains of garbage and waste. If nothing else, setting up areas of the show such as "Green Street" educates people at these events about how to be more responsible rockers--even after five cups of Bud Light.

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